Commonly used sodium chloride road salt is environmentally damaging. It is corrosive to roads, bridges, and vehicles using them; it is harmful to roadside vegetation; it pollutes aquatic habitats and drinking water supplies; and it damages underground cables, among other effects. Although this material is relatively inexpensive, when one considers the damage it causes, it is clear that the true cost of its use is in fact quite high.
The acetates of calcium and magnesium have been suggested as non-polluting and non-corrosive replacements for sodium and calcium chloride for road applications, but these materials are presently in somewhat limited supply and the present manufacturing processes render them too expensive for such applications. Hence it would be very desirable to have a low cost process for producing calcium and magnesium acetates from readily available cheap starting materials. Such a process is the subject of this application.